OilBird | Steatornis Caripensis

OilBird:

Locally known as the guacharo it can be found in the northern areas of South America including the island of Trinidad

The Oil Bird is a large slim oily bird. They have a flattened powerfully hooked bill surrounded by deep chestnut rectal bristles and feathers of the oilbird are soft like those of many night birds. It is mainly reddish brown with white spots on the nape and wings.

Other than for clinging to vertical sufaces their feet are small and almost useless . The long wings have evolved to make itt capable of hovering and twisting flight which enables it to navigate through restricted areas of its caves.

They nest in caves , forage at night and navigate by echolocation in the same way as bats. Oilbirds are the only known nocturnal flying fruit-eating birds in the world besides the Kakapo which are flightless.

As their name implies the oilbird is so oily that people used to hunt them and boil them down to extract their oil for use as fuel